Village of the Week: Hawnby is known for dark skies, moors and a reborn local pub

It closed in 2018 and a pint was not pulled nor a last orders bell rung for two years. At the time it was called The Inn and reopened as The Owl in December 2020. It shut again two years later when the leaseholder left suddenly.

Mexborough Estates, which has its office in Hawnby, took the pub on itself in the Autumn of last year - and the village is delighted.

Even the Yorkshire Post food reviewer poured praise on the restaurant following a meal and drinks this year after a visit so bad in 2022, she never even wrote the review. The next day the pub kitchen closed, followed by the pub a short time later.

However, for 2024 she declared The Owl “one to watch” on the region’s food and drink scene.

Jamie Savile, director of Mexborough Estates, said The Owl was “key” to the community.

“All of us residents of Hawnby, having had the pub open and close a few times, we really notice the difference when it has been closed. It’s as if the heartbeat is not beating anymore.

“The village seems empty and seems to lose its centre. When it is open there are more people from outside and people coming for a walk, a meal, using it as a base. It is providing employment and that social cohesion.”

The pub, like all good ones in a rural village, has helped bring this small community back together and adds to the role that Hawnby Stores and Tearoom has within village life.

The post office was lost but not for the lack of trying to keep it going by locals. Mexborough Estates bought as many stamps as it could in a bid to keep putting business through it.

Hawnby is largely an estate village with much of the property and land belonging to Mexborough Estates.

It has interests elsewhere in the country but they are largely in Yorkshire and cover property, forestry, sport by way of pheasant and grouse shooting and fishing, and tourism through holiday cottages.

However, there is a clear stance from the estate on the balance between permanent residents and visitors. Mr Savile’s vision for Hawnby and Mexborough Estates is that it is sustainable and relevant.

He himself lives at Arden Moor in Hawnby, which was bought in 1897 by the 6th Earl of Mexborough and is still the family seat.

Mr Savile said: “The village has changed, that is the march of time. Like everywhere in Yorkshire and the country, the wonderful characters of the 70s and 80s have moved on. We have broadband and internet but those big economic drivers in rural parts of the national park - farming, forestry and shooting are still very big employers.

“We are supporting that, the shop and pub and starting some leisure with holiday cottages. We are adding another reason to come and further employment as well.

“We don’t want to take cottages that could support families or people that want to work in the community. We are turning into holiday cottages places that are too small, too remote or derelict so it is not taking what could be occupied by a family.

“It is key to have that beating heart. The pub is a hub but you need locals to sit at the bar rather than lots of people that have not been before”.

Bulmers Directory of 1890 described Hawnby as “a bleak, exposed situation on the side of a steep hill, between the Hambleton Hills and the high moors of Ryedale”.

It may sound a fairly abrasive description looking at the village on a bright, spring morning but back then I can perhaps see where the writer was coming from.

Those moors were wild then and are wild now and on a stormy, winter day you’d know about it. That is very much part of their appeal to me and hundreds and thousands of people that visit them each year.

However, Hawnby has something that most other, if not every other, village in the country does not.

Last year it became the first village in England to be awarded Dark Skies Friendly status. In 2019, the North York Moors National Park started to look at ways to make dark skies clearer across the area and reduce light pollution.

In a pilot scheme, Hawnby was selected to introduce dark skies friendly lighting across the whole village.

In total more than 100 lights on 30 properties were converted to ensure they provide all the functionality needed, whether it’s for security or visibility reasons, but at a suitable level so not throwing glaring rays of light into the night sky, which can make the stars less visible, and the lights are only used when needed.

“It is amazing what you can do by pointing lights in a different direction. The difference is huge and you can see constellations that were there before [but couldn’t see]”, added Mr Savile.

“We didn’t force it through by any means, it was something that the North York Moors National Park had applied for and we thought, ‘we have fantastic skies’, and put it to the parish council and the community to see what feedback we would get, expecting it to be relatively lukewarm, but it was really positive and before we knew it, had momentum.”

The project has also led to what probably wasn’t a foreseen economic boost.

Hawnby, thanks to its new found status, is attracting night sky and stargazing enthusiasts, particularly during the Dark Skies Festivals being held by the national park at certain times of the year and the visitors are using The Owl for food, drinks and accommodation which is serving the pub well for business as it gets going again.